Work to widen the main road between Elland and Halifax is set for completion by early 2019 – following unexpected setbacks.

The scheme, which includes widening Salterhebble Hill to four lanes, installing new traffic light technology and improving facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, began last August and was expected to be completed this summer.

The road is the main route between Huddersfield and Calderdale Royal Hospital.

The multi-million pound scheme is part of one of the biggest and most complex highways projects ever undertaken by Calderdale Council.

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A council spokesperson said work had been complicated by the discovery of three uncharted stone arch culverts thought to date back to the Industrial Revolution. Thousands of gallons of water had to be redirected, while many cellars and areas of unstable ground have also been encountered during the excavation of the hillside.

The scheme has so far involved shifting 5,000 tonnes of material to widen the road and create the extra lanes, with more than 3,000 metres of steel soil nails screwed into the rock to secure the remaining hillside.

Workers had also faced challenging weather conditions due to the “Beast from the East” in February. This had pushed back completion of the project to early next year – but still ahead of the contractual deadline of March, 2019.

In the coming months, the focus will be on work around Calderdale Royal Hospital and completion of Dryclough Lane junction to improve co-ordination of traffic signals and reduce travel delays.

Saltherhebble Hill road widening. (Image: Huddersfield Examiner)

Contractors will also begin creating a “vertical garden” on the hillside retaining wall at Salterhebble to help improve air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide as well as improving the appearance of the corridor.

Work has also been completed by Yorkshire Water, British Telecom, Northern Powergrid and Northern Gas Networks, taking advantage of the roadworks to complete vital repairs.

The road scheme is being funded through West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s West Yorkshire £1bn-plus Transport Fund.

Clr Barry Collins, Calderdale’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, said: “The overall A629 scheme is an immensely complicated project – likely to be the most ambitious highways scheme undertaken in Calderdale since the building of the Burdock Way flyover around half a century ago.

“Contractors are working as quickly as possible to complete the Salterhebble element of the project to a high standard.”

Clr Peter Box, chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Investment Committee, said: “This huge Transport Fund scheme will speed up journeys and combat the economic and environmental costs of congestion along this key route between Halifax and Huddersfield.”